How distorted and unrecognizable must things become for US to realize that our grand old flag is becoming a relic, much like its confederate cousin. Red, white and blue stood for unity. Red and Blue can’t even talk to one another these days and White is now a racist point of contention– not the purity those stripes were meant to evoke. We’ve become the Divided States. #SAD but true. Continue reading →
That’s all we need, 37 Electors who realize Trump is a madman and simply cannot be our next President. Madman is NOT an exaggeration. He lied and cheated his way to “victory”, even inviting Russian leader Putin to hack Hillary. He knew! But, YOU #EsteemedElectors can put a stop to it!
The Electoral College is not just a formality this year! The Electors are coming into power, asking for intel briefings and planning to deliberate. GREAT! Thankfully the media (actual TV networks and prominent newspapers) are covering this. I posted my “Open Letter to Electors” (my official plea about the #EmolumentsClause) and this twitter moment with the NY Times story about the cyber hacks:
Given the Russian Hacking we are truly in a Constitutional Crisis! There are bipartisan calls for a Congressional Investigation. I posted Senator McCain coming down the escalator to SAVE US from the last guy who took us on a similar ride. McCain and even Leader McConnell (along with many other Republicans) are ready to come back to DC and begin the investigation into Russian influence on our election and political process. It’s a tremendous threat to our nation. AND, so is Trump! He’s violating the Emoluments Clause of our Constitution and now the Federal GSA (Government Services Administration) confirms he’s in violation of his contract to run the Washington Trump Hotel (the “Old Post Office” on Federal land) and be President. Electors, PLEASE. Don’t let him play you… stop him. It’s all up to YOU!
OUR fate is in the hands of the Electoral College. 306 – 37 = 269 and Trump is no longer the “winner” of the E.C. which requires 270 votes.
I have shared my Open Letter to Electors on the DailyKos, Twitter, #HamiltonElectors, AsktheElectors site, and even Fbook (where puppies and peeps rule.) Seriously, this is our only hope. If you care about our country, PLEASE focus on this issue every day until the Electors vote!!!
If you know any of the Republican Electors (especially in states like Florida, NY, CA) that can be persuaded to save the planet and life as we know it, PLEASE contact them. You can use my logic (about financial violations and UN-constitutional foreign influences) or any other way to reason with them. We only have a few days left, but the possibility is more promising than ever. It’s a HOT trending topic!
And for those who call say switching would make them “faithless Electors”, well think again. Lawyers and even some judges have come to their defense with The Elector’s Trust and Hamilton Defenders. Read more about why we call them FAITHful Electors!
My last post was too rambling. Let me get right to the point. We have ONE last chance to #StopTrump. That is NOW before the Electoral College takes its final vote December 19. Why? Trump is in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution.
“No Person holding any Office… shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind… from a foreign State.”
It is crystal clear that Trump would be in violation of this Constitutional clause the moment he takes the Oath given his debt to foreign nations and undisclosed business dealings in over 25 foreign countries. Trump boasts that he “can’t have a conflict of interest” BUT Harvard professors and the former Bush administration ethics attorney claim he will be in violation of the Emoluments Clause IF he takes the Oath of Office.
Therefore, no Elector– not even “Republican loyalists”– can vote for someone whose election is a violation of the Constitution!
Seems to me that the Electors should go with the popular vote and the candidate who has been CLEARED of all wrong-doing! But, that’s for them to wrestle…what they cannot do is elect Trump!
Trump is NOT the “President-Elect.” The election has not been “certified” as some Trump surrogates claim. News organizations should NOT call him “President-Elect.” The Electoral College vote is set for December 19.
Trump claims he will reveal on Dec 15 how he “plans” to “divest” himself of his business holdings. But, we have no idea what he will actually do, and after Dec 19 it will be TOO late. The Time is NOW to #StopTrump and protect our Constitutional rights.
Tump has also PLEDGED to destroy our First Amendment rights. He’s threatened Free Speech, the media, and especially print newspapers claiming he will “open up” libel laws in the United States so he can sue news organizations. Just as importantly, he has openly threatened our religious freedom with claims of banning Muslims and has openly expressed his desire to make this a “Christian Country again.” America was NEVER a “Christian” country! The original revolt from England had everything to do with FREEDOM to speak, worship in our own way, and to avoid oppression.
The Founding Fathers and framers of the Constitution were careful to protect our “inalienable rights” which include equality for ALL Americans, no restrictions on religious freedom or upon speech. Trump continues to threaten our rights and freedom. His choices for various cabinet and “at will” positions makes it clear he intends to repeal or restrict Civil Rights and social programs. He only seems concerned with protecting Amendment “two”, as he might call it, and doesn’t truly understand even that one.
So if you CARE about your rights and future, you MUST lobby the Electors of your state– particularly Republicans who think they are bound to Trump. They are bound to the Constitution!
Below are more resources and detailed information, but the easiest way to locate members of the Electoral College for your state is to simply contact your Secretary of State’s Office.
“A demagogue is a tyrant who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses. Huey Long, Hugo Chavez, and Moqtada al-Sadr are all clear examples of this dangerous byproduct of democracy. This compelling narrative (by Michael Signer) weaves stories about some of history’s most notorious figures, including Adolf Hitler, Senator Joe McCarthy, and General Douglas Macarthur, and explains how humanity’s urge for liberty can give rise to dark forces that threaten that very freedom.”
Before I get to tweaking, let me say a word about the Twits (that I recently called out online.) Who are they and why do I call them Twits? They SHOUT with capital letters, usually inane, frustrated, meaningless comments or like a recent Texas Twit told me, “close your account.” They rarely offer any useful comments or info. I should use Buddhist logic and see these folks as an opportunity to practice patience. In fact, no excuses going forward, I must do that or actually get off social media if I can’t. (This is called Grappling, the topic of my next book.)
As for the Electoral College, it’s obsolete and should have been discontinued after the 2000 election fiasco. While I like this Atlantic article by Peter Beinart (whom I’ve seen several times on cable news), the E.C. was actually designed to give white male property owners the final choice for President.
Back then women and slaves were chattel and men who did not own land or chattel were considered “lesser” and not worthy of a say on such lofty matters as who should be President. As for the “states” argument, in this day and age of instantaneous info and mobility, geography should not determine the Presidency either. The Electoral system is outdated, offensive and should be eliminated.
That said, research shows Electors are free to vote for whoever they want. Any restrictions placed on them by a state is unconstitutional. Since we still have this antiquated system, this is the time, as Peter argues, to use it to the fullest and in his words:
“prevent an irresponsible demagogue from taking office.”
That’s why I have repeatedly posted #DisqualifyTrump and urged Electors to support the popular vote when your state participates in the “college.” Votes will be tallied on December 19. That is when we will know the “official” 2016 Presidential election outcome (unless recount challenges turn up fraud. More on that below.)
I must say how fascinating that Trump supporters so quickly embraced the complicated Electoral College. You know if Trump had received TWO MILLION votes more than Hillary, but had lost the EC, they would be screaming in ALL CAPS about the RIGGED system. That brings us to the need for a recount… a full AUDIT would be even better!
Good for Jill Stein to take the lead and raise millions (overnight) for a recount. It’s not for her campaign. She is doing this so we can resolve the many complaints and questions about irregularities with electronic machines, voter suppression techniques, like provisional ballots and purges (that primarily affected minority groups), and alleged hacking by various groups.
Purging registered voters ahead of the election, by the THOUSANDS, is a particularly “dirty trick” employed by Republican-led states and election officials who then give the voter a provisional ballot that often is never included in the vote totals– especially in the unofficial “election night” totals. This is possible because Republicans have spent the last several years gerrymandering districts to their benefit so they can exert more control at the local level. They use their power to reduce voting sites in minority areas which resulted in HUGE lines that disenfranchised many who simply had to get back to work and could not wait all day. Terrible and unconstitutional in my opinion.
Finally, electronic voting machines that do not have a paper trail should be carefully audited. These type of machines have been investigated since the 1980s when in my state (New Mexico) election officials were accused of programming the machines prior to elections so that regardless of what choices were made, the votes would go to a certain party. I immediately recognized the machines a couple of days ago, when I saw one (on TV) with its large green “vote” button. An official was pointing to it and saying that machine could not be hacked because it’s not linked to the internet. That’s right. But they sure could be, and WERE, programmed for desired outcomes in the past and have since been banned in many states. New Mexico is back to paper ballots that are fed into scanners to tabulate the votes. Sadly, I still worry because any electronic data can be hacked or manipulated, and probably has been somewhere in the US. That’s why if there is any suspicion in Wisconsin, Michigan or any state, especially any state that used those type of machines, we should have a recount and analysis of data and paper ballots with plenty of bipartisan monitoring.
So, yes, let’s have a recount (for states “too close to call” or where irregularities have been found) and Electors, DO THE RIGHT THING! Let’s elect whoever has won the official popular vote.
Sounds like something a 15 year old would write. I actually DID protest, kind of, during the 1972 election when McGovern tried to defeat Nixon. I was in high school and my boyfriend (later first husband) and I drove around with NO MORE WAR and McGOVERN painted on his muscle car windows. But, I wasn’t out walking in the street. I was Tuesday! I had to support the #NoDAPL — NO Dakota Access Pipeline (project) that I’ve been railing against on Twitter. It was not only my duty to join millions in supporting our original Native Americans and protecting THEIR sacred land, but also a minor miracle that I could raise my right arm (after my recent bout with partial paralysis) so I did! (Let’s not forget it was a Native American Sobadora who healed me!) Also, as a former journalist, news reporter, and government flack (spokesperson), I could not participate in protests for over 35 years. I’m a private citizen now.
It was scary (in this current political climate) but I’m so glad that participated.
This pipeline project is horrifying on many levels. 1) That a profit-making “energy” company is exploiting tribal land, 2) that the Obama Administration did not already totally deny the permits, and 3) the ungodly attacks on Native Americans with pepper spray and GUNS! I feel we MUST stand with the Standing Rock Sioux to protect their land and also protest further drilling in the Dakota Badlands. Not everyone agrees. Watch this CNN video and read the article about the project.
What IS certain is that our so-called President-Elect* Trump can’t wait to allow the project to proceed. He will grant the wishes of Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren who donated $100 hundred thousand to his campaign. (Warren admits to this and claims it’s “100% certain” they can proceed come January.) Trump is also said to have invested between 500K and a MILLION dollars to Warren’s company. (I wonder about this since Trump isn’t a “stock picking” investor. His money is mostly in real estate and a few mutual funds.) Trump also has big plans to deregulate the EPA along with many other Federal checks and balances against such devastating projects.
Here in Albuquerque I was proud to see nearly 500 people show up for a peaceful demonstration and hear Native speakers. The Army Corps District Office here is the only one within over 400 miles so many people drove long distances to participate. It would have been perfect except for two things: 1) local cops had blocked all roads and access to the Army Corps office, so we had to park far away. (It didn’t slow down anyone. We just marched our way carrying our signs and chanting. 2) I overhead a cop telling a security guard, “It’s the highest concentration of Prius driver’s in New Mexico.” They both laughed. I wanted to reply, “and fuzz explosion.” (Of course, I didn’t.) Instead, I survived to write this!
*Footnote: Trump is NOT yet President-Elect. The vote is still being canvassed and the Electoral College is not final until the meeting Dec. 19. I remain hopeful we can disqualify him then! PLEASE contribute Elector info and ideas on Twitter using hash tag #DisqualifyTrump.
After screaming, crying and going through the various stages of grief (about the 2016 election), here’s the bottom line: it was all over in 2000.
Credit to photographer Michael Shank
When America ended up with Halliburtin’s Dick Chaney and “W” Bush over Al Gore (in an election that was “rigged” and stolen, IMHO), we missed our last opportunity to make real progress on climate change. The “Inconvenient Truth” was more than a movie, it was also a political metaphor. America took the dark path of propping up the “war machine” (the military–industrial complex, an unholy alliance of the U.S. military and defense industry.)
It had been “peace time” under President Clinton and America would have been not only peaceful and prosperous under Al Gore, but climate concerns were at the top of his agenda.
Why this history lesson? Because you can’t really grok what’s at stake until you look in the review mirror and see how we got to this point. I’m not blaming young or first-time voters (for protest votes or sitting it out) because you have to live through some of the horrors and consequences to really understand what’s at stake. Trust me, if we make it through the current national nightmare, you’ll know what I mean.
It’s not a “coincidence” that the 9/11 attack happened soon after Bush took office. Elections have consequences. Big Daddy Bush (“41”) wasn’t all points of light and kumbaya, as he’s often portrayed. He was the former CIA director and a Texas oil man. More importantly he invaded Iraq with our U.S. military and literally “bombed the shit” out of the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) with thousands of rapid air strikes, then left quickly leaving a wake of death and destruction that created tremendous hatred. So when America elected “Son of Bush” President in 2000, vengeance was definitely on the mind of the Middle East. (I’ll come back to that concept.)
The current refugee crisis and ISIS can be traced directly to our long involvement in Middle East (which of course dates back to the 1950s) and our need for cheap oil, at ANY cost. It’s been an OUTRAGEOUS cost in lives lost and Trillions of tax dollars (taxes that DJT has not participated in, but that’s another topic.) Vengeance is at the root of all our problems, especially war. But, it’s also the reason Trump ran for office. He wanted to “get even” with President Obama for roasting him during the 2011 White House Correspondents‘ Dinner. (Unbelievable, but true!)
Many blame Obama for continuing the wars. I guess DJT will soon learn if he can end them. I’m just sick. When I hear that creeps like Jeff Sessions and retired general Flynn (who claims Trump “crushed the debates”) will be in charge of our military operations I’m NOT hopeful. This isn’t a game, our lives are at stake– particularly YOURS. I can retreat to a monastic life and leave Samsara (cyclical life) behind, but you millennials are stuck with war, our dying oceans, lack of water and food, and Donald Trump. If you survive, you will remember and want to warn others to vote for sanity and reason next time.
and not worthy of a say on such lofty matters as who should be President. As for the “states” argument, in this day and age of instantaneous info and mobility, geography should not determine the Presidency either. The Electoral system is outdated, offensive and should be eliminated.
show up for a peaceful demonstration and hear Native speakers. The Army Corps District Office here is the only one within over 400 miles so many people drove long distances to participate. It would have been perfect except for two things: 1) local cops had blocked all roads and access to the Army Corps office, so we had to park far away. (It didn’t slow down anyone. We just marched our way carrying our signs and chanting. 2) I overhead a cop telling a security guard, “It’s the highest concentration of Prius driver’s in New Mexico.” They both laughed. I wanted to reply, “and fuzz explosion.” (Of course, I didn’t.) Instead, I survived to write this!
ZiaLink Ink 